Passenger climbs atop cab, creates ruckus in Bengaluru

BENGALURU: The traffic police along with the public had to restrain a man by tying his hands and legs with a plastic wire before taking him to the police station after he created ruckus by standing on top of a cab in the middle of the International Airport Road near Mehkri Circle on Monday noon. The man, identified as Santosh, also assaulted a few drivers and the traffic police who tried to calm him. He was also assaulted by a few drivers. Movement of traffic was affected for some time. Santoshs family in Mysuru had booked a cab to the airport as they were visiting a temple in a north Indian state. Enroute they picked up Santosh who is staying in the city. Santosh told the cab driver to drop them to the airport within 15 to 20 minutes as they would be missing the flight. When the cab driver told him that the travel time would not be less than an hour, Santosh started punching the driver. When the driver retaliated and parked the cab on the road side on the Airport Road near Mekhri Circle, Santosh came outside the cab and climbed on it. He started to jump on the cab, damaging the windshield in the process. Supporting the cab driver, a few other drivers pulled down Santosh and started assaulting him. When the traffic police manning the junction came to his rescue, the accused even attacked them. Enraged over his behaviour, people started beating him. He was also attacked with a helmet. An elderly lady who was with the family pleaded the assaulters to let him go. But the accused pushed her on to the main road. Unable to control him, the police with the help of the public had to lift and take him on the footpath. They eventually tied his hands and legs with a plastic wire and took him to the Sadashivanagar police station in a patrolling vehicle. Santosh was earlier working as a manager in a supermarket. He lost job six months ago. He is also said to have had a strained marital life. The police suspect that he could be mentally unstable. The video of the incident has gone viral.